


To the Ends of the World with You

by Emriel



Series: Taken [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Dreamworld, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Forced Bonding, Friendship/Love, M/M, MMORPG inspired, Manipulation, Seduction to the Dark Side, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2020-01-16 09:03:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18518245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emriel/pseuds/Emriel
Summary: Harry is taken from his relative's home by a man who claims that they are soul mates. Lord Voldemort promises him the world and is overzealous in protecting him. The Dark Lord goes to great lengths to ensure that Harry Potter would be safe during the war and even beyond that, in a world of his choosing. He keeps Harry forever asleep in a dream and Harry begins to confuse that dream with reality.Because in that dream, he is an adventurer. He forms a party with his closest friends, and his half-brother Tom. And life was perfect, except for the occasional trouble with homicidal creatures, his missing father, and his growing fear that something was wrong.





	1. Into the Rabbit Hole

**Author's Note:**

> This idea has been bugging me for a long time. For more than a week now. I’ve been watching too many isekai anime and playing too many mmorpg fantasy games. Originally I wanted to write a DnD fic, but I think the idea of having to write the “roll a perception/skill check” was too laborious I decided against it. I blame Voltron’s episode of DnD. Not beta read. 2am post. I'm going to sleep.
> 
> And Oh. Believe it or not, this is actually really fluffy. :D I'm really hoping it won't get that much darker lol. But sometimes my fingers slip.
> 
> I added a fanart I made~ It suits the story a lot.

Harry Potter was four when strangers visited his family.

He thought it was all his fault. His family called him a freak and he could do freakish things.

He should have been more careful of what he wished for because sometimes his thoughts were enough to make freakish things happen around him.

A few days ago, when Dudley beat him up and Vernon locked him in the cupboard with no food, he had enough. Harry wished with all his heart that something bad would happen to them. The house was not his home and he was tired of living in it.

It was a spur of the moment thing. After wishing for it and crying himself to sleep, the next morning, Harry realized he didn’t mean it. That he’d probably feel sad if something did happen to his only family.

But all the time, Harry wished that he never had to live with his relatives. That someone would come and save him. Maybe his parents would magically come back to life and come knocking to have him back. Or maybe a Prince Charming would sweep him off his feet, just like in the fairy tales he read? Or maybe a long lost relative would take him away and he'd finally have a decent family...

If someone would offer to save him from Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley, Harry was going to come with them in a heartbeat.

But Harry's wish was granted in a violent way.

And Harry was having guilty thoughts of 'Didn't you ask for this? Didn't you want this to happen? But I didn't want them to get hurt. I'm sorry. Sorry.'

He heard shouting. He heard crying. The smell of something burning. Harry couldn't see anything from underneath the stairs inside his cupboard. But he heard them screaming, begging. He could see the smoke as it got inside his cupboard.

'I can see it.'

Harry shakily reached for the cord connected to the bulb above his head and turned off the lights. He prayed that no one saw that.

He could feel the creeping fear that turned his legs into gelatin.

“Please don’t do this. We’re innocent! You want the brat. Just take him! But spare us please. We’re innocent. You can’t—”

“No! You Bastard. Petunia! No. What have you done? You freaks!”

Harry was so scared and he didn’t want to come out of his cupboard. It looked like bad people got in. Burglars? Vernon always bragged about how they were richer than most folk in the village.

"I'll kill you!" Vernon shouted until he was groaning in pain as the sound of porcelain came crashing down.

And the tapping of the wall. "Where is he? Let me into your mind."

They were hurting his family. Freaks were hurting his family. Were they freaks like him?

Harry was shaking. He wrapped himself around a blanket and covered his mouth with his hand, hoping that he wouldn’t make a sound. Maybe they wouldn't check his cupboard.

There were no pictures of him in the house. So maybe they won't realize he was there.

And then he heard the footsteps, growing closer and closer.

A thud, and a scream. It was Dudley. “Mom… why isn’t she moving…. Mom… Nooo. No Please don’t AHHH—“

“You can scream all you want but no one’s ever going to save you. Such a pretty voice you have… hmmn?”  A woman’s voice said and then, Harry heard her deranged laughter.

“My ARM— MY ARgGHnn!” Dudley just didn’t stop screaming.

"Crucio."

Dudley's screams turned to high pitched wailing.

“Bella, stop playing around and kill him already.”

“Severus, you spoil my fun. Avada Kedavra.”

Green light spilled through the cracks of the door. A thud.

Harry whimpered when he heard her sing song voice declare, “We’ve disposed of everyone, My Lord.”

Dudley was dead.

“Good.”

Harry was horrified. They were dead just like his parents. Despite how horrible they were to him, they were his family. Now, he didn't have anyone left. Harry suddenly found himself crying. His throat hurt and he tried not to give in to the urge to sob.

“He’s here.”

“Inside the cupboard? Those despicable muggles. Good riddance I say.”

Harry heard their voices muffled by the door but they know he was there. He couldn't help the little gasp that came out of his mouth. They were going to kill him.

Harry hid underneath the blanket.

“Quiet. I will speak with the child.”

Murmurs of apologies came.

And then, against the door of the cupboard, the man’s voice was loud and clear.

“I’m here to help you. Don’t worry. We won’t hurt you, Harry.”

Harry’s eyes widened when he heard his name. The man knocked twice. Harry just whimpered. His heart was thumping at his chest. How fast could he run if he needed to? Will it hurt? Will they let him go? He wasn't about to trust the words of a murderer.

“Alohamora.”

Harry choked and clutched his pillow tighter when his cupboard opened. He shuffled towards the corner of his bed, and hoped he was small enough.

A hand touched his head gently, tilted his chin and Harry gasped, opening his eyes. “Please… don’t hurt me.”

The man wiped his tears, "I understand you're scared."

He was taken aback when he saw the prettiest man he’s ever seen.

The red eyed man smiled and said, “I won’t hurt you, little one. I am Lord Voldemort… _or you can call me Tom_. I’m going to take you away from here.”

“B-but… I... You killed them... Aren't you going to kill me too?” Harry then tried to look away. Still afraid. Aunt Petunia told him never to trust strangers.

Tom sat on his bed and caressed Harry's face.

"I will not kill you. Never. I'm here to save you, Harry. Your family has been nothing but unkind to you. You deserve better."

Tom smiled at him, and for some reason, his voice echoed all around when he said, “Don’t worry about your relatives, Harry. They won’t hurt you again. No one will hurt you again. Everything will be alright. Give me your hand.”

Harry didn’t know what came over him. Somehow, his hands were moving before he knew it.

He followed them out of the burning house and into the night.

 

* * *

 

Albus Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix sat in a circle.

“The whole house burned. A gas leak is what they said,” Came the voice of Alastor Moody. He leaned against his cane and spoke, “I don’t buy this. This is definitely the work of Death Eaters. I say we search again for clues.”

“I’m afraid we’ve exhausted just about every option we can find. We’ve already seen the remains of Harry Potter. The boy is dead.” Severus insisted.

Albus pushed his spectacles down and placed it on the temple. He began massaging his forehead. “I have reason to believe that the boy is alive.”

Severus narrowed his eyes at this. “Pray tell me, why you would think so?”

“I have recently acquired an artifact that allows me to summon the souls of the dead. If Harry Potter is dead, I would have been able to speak with him many nights ago. Someone stole him away and wherever the boy is, we simply cannot reach him.”

Murmurs started as the Order began speculating what it was that actually happened to the boy.

“Severus, is there something you wish to tell me?”

“I’ve told you everything I know. We waste our time here when we could be doing something more productive like preparing for the imminent war.”

Albus sighed, and Arthur was flabbergasted, “War you say?”

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Harry was currently being tucked to bed by the Dark Lord.

“Why are you so nice to me, Tom?”

“We’re soulmates, you and I.” Tom twirled a lock of Harry’s hair and kissed his forehead.

Harry grinned. “You say that all the time, Tom. How do you know that we’re soulmates anyway?”

“A long story.”

“I want to know.” Harry insisted.

“Let’s just say you’ve been mine in other lifetimes and in this one, I want to do a better job at taking care of you.”

“Really? What do you mean by other lifetimes?”

“There are many different forms of me in many different universes or realities. Fate always ties us together…”

“Oh wow… that’s amazing! Tom… Are you always a Dark Lord in all of them?”

“I don’t know, Harry. The one’s I’ve glimpsed so far lead me to believe that I will always be a Dark Lord, but I've only seen a handful out of the millions of worlds out there. Some versions of me can be pretty horrifying.” Tom admitted, looking a little lost.

Harry was traumatized at first when he learned that Tom killed his family. Tom killed his parents and killed his relatives… but eventually, after being locked in his room with no one to talk to and after Tom showed him nothing but patience and kindness, Harry gave him a chance.

Tom said he had such a big heart and was happy he didn’t have to resort to ‘heinous means’ but all in all Harry was just tired of being alone and Tom wasn’t scary when he was with him.

That didn't mean he was a good person. Tom kept on making him drink potions, and sometimes Harry would be stuck in bed, asleep, or weak, or both… for days.

But Tom  **is** kind.

Tom made him feel safe, warm, and loved. To a four year old who has never experienced kindness, it was easy to mistake _obsession_ for affection.

If Tom could be horrified with a version of himself when he was already killing and torturing people in their reality… then those versions of himself must be pretty evil and terrifying.

Harry’s four year old mind still couldn’t process that in its entirety but something in the way Tom was looking at him told him that he should stop pestering Tom with his questions.

So switching up the conversation, Harry asked, “Do I get a good night hug too?”

“Of course, you brat.”

The Dark Lord hugged the needy four year old until the boy yawned. Harry was about to close his eyes when he saw Tom take out the locket, and the diary.

“Oh? Am I going to have another long dream again?”

Harry sometimes hated those dreams, because just after waking from them, he wasn’t sure which one was real and which one was the dream. In his dreams, he never had to grow up with the Dursleys. But if he didn’t grow up with the Dursleys, maybe Tom wouldn’t have had to rescue him. He wouldn’t have met Tom.

In his dreams, Tom was always there anyway, in one way or another. So dreaming was fine. It was something Harry could tolerate.

“I’m afraid so, Harry. Don’t worry, the other pieces of my soul will keep you company. They’ve missed you and I know you miss them too. You will continue sleeping until the time is right and when you wake up, I’ll be there.”

“I’ll miss you, Tom… Promise? You’ll be there when I wake up?”

“Yes. I promise, Harry. Now. Drink the potion and repeat after me.”

The Dark Lord placed the diary on the boy’s chest, and the locket around the boy’s neck. Harry accepted the horcruxes with a smile.

The incantation was recited, and slowly, Harry Potter fell into a deep sleep.

“I hope you’ll forgive me for this.” Tom sighed, and placed a kiss on the boy’s forehead once more before moving away.

Harry blinked innocently, fighting against the curse, “Tom… good… night...”

“Sleep well, Harry.”

What Harry wouldn’t know was, instead of just sleeping for a few days, the Dark Lord’s sleeping curse was designed to keep him asleep for all eternity.

 

* * *

 

 

 

_The Dark Lord keeps Harry asleep in a highly guarded water garden where no one can find him. But one day, someone will..._

 

* * *

 

When Harry woke up, there was tapping sound and his blurry eyes zeroed on the stick that kept whipping against the board.

Harry's seven year old mind wracked his brain. Where was he. What just happened? And then, he recalled that today was the last day of the Academy.

His head still felt very muddled. And he was taking deep lungfuls of air.

His professor was giving him a worried look.

“Sleeping during class Mr. Potter? We can’t have that. Today is the day you choose your specialization! I’d give you detention but you look ill… Are you feeling alright?”

Harry raised his head from the table and shivered at the sudden numbness. As if he couldn’t feel a thing. Slowly, his senses returned to him. He focused on his classmates who were all wearing sailor hats, a weird black cape and they were looking at him, gossiping, murmuring.

Try as he might, he knew something was wrong but couldn't remember it. He was having a dream. He felt like he'd forgotten something very important. Something about sleeping for a very long time and Tom was with him... 'Tom?'

As if on cue, a red eyed boy tapped his shoulder. Harry brightened at the sight of Tom, his bestfriend and brother.

“Are you alright, Harry? It’s not like you to just fall asleep like that.”

Harry pouted and looked at Tom who inched closer until their knees were touching, “Tom… I think I was dreaming of you again but I can’t remember what’s it about. I think I was dreaming that I’m about to sleep… for a long time? Does that make sense?”

A hand was at his forehead, “No fever,” Tom murmured, “But you’re not acting like yourself.”

Harry frowned. He still felt worried. He never worried like this before. Nothing in the past seven years of his life seemed uncanny. Except that dream. At the age of four, they were enlisted in the program and for the past three years that he was in the Academy, he learned to trust his instincts. Whatever he forgot was important.

His head hurt. “Ahhh.”

“Harry,” Tom worriedly said.

Tom gave him a very concerned look before declaring to the Professor, “Can I take Harry to the infirmary? He’s not feeling well, Professor Martha.”

"alright Tom."

“W-wait. I’m fine Tom. You don’t need to take me there? I’m fine.” Harry hissed his protests.

“We’re going.” Tom grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the classroom across the sunlit hallways.

They went down the castle until they reached the white walled infirmary.

 

* * *

 

"He looks just about as well as he can get, Tom. A little fatigued, perhaps from lack of sleep. He’s not the first one who came here like this. Kids these days become so stressed when it’s finally time to choose their specialization. I assume that might be the case with Mr. Potter.”

The healer turned to Harry, “I suggest you remain here for a few more hours until you’re feeling better.”

“But the ceremony! Tom. I can’t miss that.”

Tom crossed his arms and sighed, “Fine, but the moment you feel bad, I’m taking you home.”

Harry pouted, and he glared at Tom who was laughing. “I don’t really think there’s anything wrong with me. You said so yourself Madam Pomfrey.”

“Your friend is just watching out for you. Nothing bad with seeing a healer like me when you need it… Ah. Let me cast one last spell. A typical cure spell, just to take care of any lingering ailments we haven’t caught.”

A wash of green fell over Harry and somehow, after that he was feeling loads better.

For the next two hours, he was stuck in bed with an overprotective brother who somehow just wouldn’t let him go back to class despite his many protests.

“So, have you thought of what you want to be, Harry?” Tom asked him with a knowing look.

Harry tried to remember the specializations he liked. Harry's eyebrows scrunched as he began talking, “I thought about being an archer, but I hate carrying bows. Being a Paladin is great too but sadly I don’t have the stamina for it, yet. So maybe an assassin? But I don’t like stalking, and hiding, and killing things. Hmmn… Maybe a priest? A Battle or Tank Priest?...”

“Harry, you’re so predictable. I knew you would pick Paladin or Priest. Frankly, as long as you don’t go offensive, it’ll work out for us.” Tom grinned.

Harry yawned. “What are you aiming for, Tom?”

“I want to be a Dark Wizard.”

Harry laughed at this, “I knew it. Have you thought about your final class too?”

“I’m aiming to be a Dark Lord,” Tom grinned, all teeth.

Harry sighed, “I’d rather go for something more simple. I want to be a Summoner Priest Hybrid.”

“Oh, like the legendary Hero that defeated Grindelwald?”

“Yup. Albus Dumbledore is amazing!"

Tom made a face.

But Harry continued, "He has a Phoenix familiar and he’s good at offensive and defensive skills despite being a Wizard - Summoner Hybrid.” Harry’s eyes went all starry eyed at the thought of being able to reach those heights.

“I’m sure you can do it too, Harry. Anything is possible in this world.”

 

* * *

 

Harry’s aptitude was very low in all things physical but in the magical sense, he was brimming with mana. Once he put his hands on the crystal orb that would determine his aptitude for being a priest, it was over the charts. The ball which was only supposed to glow in the middle started filling the room with bright white light.

Harry hastily took his hand away.

Needless to say, everyone was clapping when his student attire suddenly transformed into a Priest robe. The professors handed him a rudimentary staff with a golden cross at the top.

Harry went back to his circle of friends and they all gave him high fives. Draco grinned at him, “Good job, cousin. You won me fifteen galleons.”

“You bet on me being a priest, Draco?”

“Yes. Blaise owes me one now. He thought you’ll be a white mage or something.”

“Yeah, that was amazing, Harry,” came Ron Weasley’s voice. He was glaring at Draco with contempt.

Hermione Granger was next, and she was neither very good physically, or magically. But she was second to Tom in class.

Hermione looked dejected.

Harry watched as most orbs seemed to glow but they were very weak. The professors were murmuring until finally, they presented the Spellcaster specialization, the very last one.

Everyone was talking that Hermione didn’t have it in her to be an Adventurer. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for it. But Harry believed in his friend.

After awhile, the Spellcaster orb responded, albeit weakly, but it was there and it glowed purple. Hermione was crying as her robes changed into a very rare form of the Spellcaster robes. She was given her very own grimoire.

Tom scoffed beside him. “A pity she even got one.”

“Tom, Hermione’s my friend too. Stop it.”

“I’m trying, Harry. But she gets on my nerves.”

The professors were finally done congratulating Hermione who said she wanted to excuse herself to the bathroom, still crying.

The whole class stilled when they called, “Tom Riddle? Please step inside the ritual circle.”

Tom rose fluidly and went in the middle of the classroom, and stood on top of the white chalk circle. The professors asked him what he wanted to be.

“I want to be a Dark Wizard.”

Harry gulped as Tom was given the black ball.

And the moment Tom’s hand touched the ball, the room was plunged into darkness, and turned frigid cold.

They heard a crack and the darkness dispersed. The ball was shattered into pieces beneath their feet.

“My… my… It’s been ages since I’ve seen someone with so much potential! If you’re already this powerful at this age… do you want to try the second level? Sorcerer or Warlock class?”

Tom smirked, and glanced at Harry, “If I advance now, will I still be able to join my friends in missions?”

“Of course, despite your magical power, everyone must start as a lowly adventurer. There will be no special treatment. You’ll have to climb up the ranks and gain reputation on your own, but you’ll have an advantage over the rest of your peers… so there is certainly no harm if you do this now.” The professors looked eager.

Two floating crystals were presented to Tom, one being a Sorcerer type, and another being a Warlock type.

Tom chose the more destructive one. The Warlock crystal echoed and glowed when Tom’s hands wrapped around it.

“Marvellous. We have a genius in our ranks!”

Harry was clapping and Tom was all of a sudden wearing higher quality gear, that of a Warlock’s. It was leather black. It suited Tom.

The professors gave Tom his staff too, a shorter version of the staff Harry had. If he knew Tom, they’d probably go gear shopping the next day just to upgrade everything that they owned.

Then, it was time to go home.

 

* * *

 

The Riddle Manor was a sprawling estate surrounded by hills and falling autumn leaves of the forest. They used a portal that directly connected them to the estate, into its gardens and Harry was bouncing at the balls of his feet just at the thought of announcing the good news.

Once he opened the wide mahogany doors, he saw the familiar checkered tiles of the hallway, the red carpet and the servants who bowed a perfect ninety degrees, bidding them welcome.

He saw Marvolo who was eyeing them from the top of a grand staircase. He ran towards him and promptly gave him a hug, “Marvolo! I did it. I’m a Priest now!”

“That’s good, Harry.”

Then, the man greeted Tom who just entered the Manor, walking at a sedate pace, “A Warlock. A pity you didn’t take the chance to become the Dark Lord right away, _brother_.”

Tom glared, “Well, I’m determined to enjoy my time here, and unlike you, who lounges in this manor like a bat, I’m out there experiencing the world. _My world_.”

“ _You know very well who owns this world.”_

Tom reached them and said, "I don't care about the convoluted thoughts you have in your head. I think you're jealous I get to spend more time with him."

"Why you little—" Harry got in between the two and demanded, “No fighting.”

It was always these weird conversations and arguments about him. Harry would never understand them but he hated how Tom and Marvolo kept clashing.

“As you wish, Harry.” Marvolo dislodged himself from Harry’s embrace, patting his head. He then led them to dinner.

 

* * *

 

Marvolo was a quiet man really, and he spent most of his time away from sunlight, more at peace with perusing the books in the library than talking to people. He always wore a gold locket, was ice cold, and only smiled when Harry was there with him.

Considering that Tom and Marvolo grew up together, were brothers, and had the same father, Harry was still left wondering why the two never liked seeing eye to eye.

When the Most Powerful Wizard of all time, Dark Lord Voldemort, adopted Harry, all Harry was hoping for was _finally_ having a father and learning from the very best to boot. But Lord Voldemort mysteriously disappeared, leaving Harry with his half siblings who were insufferable. He never expected to have to live with two egotistical pricks. But they both softened up to him eventually.

Harry had a theory that Marvolo was a vampire. He fit the bill quite clearly. Pale skin. Red eyes. Hates the sun. Always inside the cover of the manor. Ice cold skin.

And maybe, the red wine he loved drinking was actually blood. Harry shivered and kept the thoughts to himself as he continued eating.

 

* * *

 

“So this is it then. We’re a party, Harry.” Tom declared happily.

Together, they signed up to become adventurers and the guild happily welcomed them. Missions crammed the big board near the entrance.

Tom dragged him off towards it, asking, “Do you think we have what it takes to fight a dragon?”

Harry shook his head vehemently, “Can we try something easy, Tom? I haven’t even learned my spells yet.”

“You what?”

“I mean, there’s just so many spells.”

“You have twelve to memorize. I have thirty.”

“Still, there was not enough time. I think we should do the easy ones before taking the harder missions.” Harry nodded sagely, “And then, we will work our way to the top, earning Copper, Silver, Gold, and Platinum badges!”

“Well, well. Someone seems all fired up. Still so adorable, my little munchkin.” Bellatrix Black pinched Harry’s cheeks, going in for the kill.

“Bellatrix.” Harry hissed, and he hid behind Tom, massaging his cheeks. He looked away from Bellatrix’s boobs because she was still leaning over. The scantily dressed woman blew her cigarette across Tom’s face turning to his half brother instead.

“You’re starting to look just like your father, Tom. So pretty. Take care of my munchkin for me, will you?” The woman blew Harry a kiss and started walking towards the upper levels of the Adventurer’s Guild, her hips swaying, and Harry saw more than a dozen eyes staring at her back.

That was platinum adventurer Bellatrix Black, from his father's guild. A family friend who started taking notice of him, claiming that Harry was her munchkin and she was Harry's mother. Delusional and slightly insane... But she was a beast.

Harry always acted like a frazzled cat around her. He suffocated from her cleavage one too many times when she kept hugging him while growing up.

Harry mumbled, “I don’t like her.”

“I don’t like her either,” Tom took Harry’s hand and they went towards the beginner portion of the board and when they got there, they saw Ron and Hermione.

“Hey!” Harry greeted them. Ron was wearing his knight armour and Hermione, her Spellcaster robes. Hermione shyly waved back.

“Harry! Oh and hello Tom!” Hermione greeted, blushing red.

Harry tried not to roll his eyes at Hermione’s very obvious crush.

“So, you two formed a party as well?” Harry asked Ron.

“Yeah. Hermione’s a decent support now that she’s a Spellcaster. She can do offense too… but she has to memorize like a gazillion spells.”

“What’s interesting is, these spells take little mana.” Hermione proudly said.

Tom muttered something under his breath.

“What was that?” Hermione asked.

“I said, it suits you a lot, Hermione.” Tom flashed her a charming smile and Hermione blushed redder than a tomato.

“I have an idea, what if we four form a party?”

Tom glared at Harry. Ron raised his sword then, “Yeah, why not!”

“Maybe we have a chance at fighting that Dragon now?” Harry joked.

“A dragon, preposterous?" There it was, Hermione lecturing them again. Harry just smiled fondly as Hermione continued explaining, "Adventurers our level are only allowed to hunt small monsters, gather items, and do some search and rescue missions. Do you see the badge at the top right corner? That’s the Adventurer badge. If you don’t have the correct badge, then you wouldn’t be allowed to take the missions.”

Harry kept nodding on, “So that means when we get copper badges, we’re only allowed to do copper missions from then on?”

Hermione nodded sagely, “on the rare occasion they’ll let us do lower level missions but for the most part, we have to stick to the badge assigned to us. This prevents the more powerful people from stealing easy missions from younger or weaker people like us.”

Harry nodded along  and traced the scrap of paper that was directly beside him.

“Wait, Harry! Don’t touch that.”

“Ehh. I just did.” Harry waved it around sheepishly.

“By touching it, it means you’ve accepted the mission. Don’t you know this already?”

Harry laughed nervously and began scanning the text.

“Uhhh… let’s see. Gather gillyweeds underneath the Whomping Willow. Danger B minus. Suggested Badge rank Novice or Copper. Needed within a fortnight?! Reward, fifty galleons. Signed Severus Snape… Ohh! Our Potion master!”

Tom slapped a hand on his forehead.

“That’s the Whomping Willow mate. Crazy first mission you got there. I don’t think you two can do it by yourselves but—” before Ron could finish his sentence, Hermione put a hand on her chest, looking at Harry earnestly.

“We’ll help. I know a spell that can temporarily freeze the Whomping Willow. I’ve never tried it, but I’m a Spellcaster for a reason.”

Harry looked at Tom for permission, with puppy dog eyes.

Tom just gave a long suffering sigh, “fine.”

“How do you add someone to the party again?”

Tom sighed, and hugged Harry. “Sometimes, I wonder what you’ll do without me.”

He let go of Harry, leaving the boy blinking at him. Tom turned to Ron and Hermione and asked, “Who’s the party leader?”

“I am,” Hermione said.

“Dissolve it.”

Hermione began saying the words, “I dissolve my party.”

Something shattered at the top of Ron and Hermione’s heads.

And then, Tom touched Hermione’s hand, and said, “I invite you to my party.”

“I accept.”

He did the same to Ron.

Harry blinked. “That’s it?”

“There’s a faster way to do it, but we only get to use that once we reach a certain badge.”

Harry blinked, “Have I told you having you and Hermione around makes me feel like I know nothing sometimes?”

Tom just ruffled his hair, “Just be yourself, Harry. I’ll take care of you. Always.”

Harry looked down on the floor and settled his bright green eyes on Tom’s red ones. “Tom. That’s a promise, right?”

“Forever, Harry.”

Ron coughed looking a little uncomfortable while Hermione beside them was back to blushing tomato red, “Sorry to interrupt but guys. We have to start the mission soon, since it’s already afternoon. What’s our game plan?”

Eventually, the four discussed that they might need to get some supplies, so it was out to the market to buy essential recovery potions and emergency portkey just in case the worst happens.

By sundown, they met up at the edge of the Hogwarts castle, looking for the said tree.

And the four of them went on their first adventure as a team. What could go wrong?


	2. Entrance Dealt Within

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I open at the close. Some things are easy, and some things are not. To Harry, his world is safe and yet it's not. What is the lesson that he has to learn as an adventurer!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to keep it lighthearted <3

It was tit for tat. Becoming a party required a certain level of **friendship** and what Hermione and Tom had was plain and simple rivalry.

Harry sat with Ron munching a piece of toast while the two rattled out battle tactics, with Hermione going along with, “In theory, after having frozen the tree, it would stop moving, and we can cast a fire spell to shatter it. However, I’ve read that the tree itself is made up of a special type of mana, which allows it to withstand such attacks.”

Tom shook his head, “I already know that, that’s why to avoid detection, we should cast time haste. And if we were to destroy it, the elders would be terribly annoyed.”

“Time haste?! And you’re right about the elders,” Hermione said and tried to make herself bigger by pushing out her chest and putting a hand against it, “I’ll have you know there’s a better way of doing that, using Dia Cloaks.”

“Cloaks that heal you and protect your damage is great but for every damage that we take as a team, we become even more tired because to make it simple, we’re not all masochists, unlike you... And as you can see your companion.” “Ron, he has a name.” “Ron does not have proper training for becoming a tank. This is his first quest.” Tom raised a valid point, his eyes already narrowing to deadly slits.

“I can take it.” Ron quipped.

“Oh you wish,” Tom hissed.

Harry sighed and Ron whispered to Harry, “Is he normally this scary?”

“Umm… no?”

Hermione waivered and summoned a book from inside her backpack. She swished her hair to the side and tied it with a charmed ribbon.

“I’ll reinforce Ron’s shield so he can be our vanguard. You can cast haste on all of us to ensure that we can avoid the attacks together. And Harry can keep buffing us to make sure that any damage we deal is sustained and any damage we take is eventually nullified.”

Tom scrunched his eyebrows grudgingly and said, “While that’s great and all, you do know that Harry is the weakest out of all of us. While he can support us, we have to make sure that no one gets to him.”

And Harry, having heard that just pouted, “Hey, it’s not my fault. I’m just… I have a weak body. One day I’ll grow up and build stamina!” Harry scrunched the piece of toast and looked at Ron, “Look, we have potions and other supplies just in case we get separated. They taught us well in the Academy, so we should be prepared for this.”

Tom just looked at him, “They taught us in a safe environment, outside there, Harry, you’ll get hurt. It’s fine if you feel numb over it, but resurrection can be painful. None of us have died yet, so I’d rather keep it at that.”

Harry blinked, and saw the words for what it was, and it was something that he could not truly understand because he didn’t know what it felt like to die. Some say it was a blinding flash of white, and others say there’s a period and time of brief nothingness.

“Regardless, this is our first mission as a team, so we can’t just rush in unlike the rest of our year mates and majority have already been sent to the infirmary. We stay together and retreat if we have to.”

“Is it really that dangerous?” Ron asked, scratching his head and yawning. He brushed of a crumb and yanked out his shield from behind him.

“I mean, you and Harry have the highest aptitude and Mione… is well, Mione.”

He tried to make hand gestures of a house. “Let’s just go and give it a try, if we can’t do it, then we can’t do it.”

Harry nodded at this, “Yes, Ron’s right.” He turned to Tom and blinked at him, “Come on!”

* * *

The Whomping Willow was around the area of the Black forest. It stood high and wriggled around from time to time when a raven hopped to sit on one of its branches. It still had some of the green leaves stuck to its branches but since it kept moving around, more and more of it fell to the ground. The trunk was twisted about itself, seaming to unwind and stretch at a moment’s notice if it felt anything approach it.

The floor was full of dead leaves, rock, dirt and limestone. And before they could get to the tree, there was a small stream whose water flew at a snail’s pace and was cold to touch.

Hermione cast a warmth spell immediately, “How odd, you would have thought that it was still warmer given the times but around this area, it’s freezing.”

“Well, more work for us to do then.” Tom muttered. All four of them wore Dia Cloaks and Tom made a hand gesture to move forward.

“If you think for a second that the time haste spell will prevent damage, then you’re wrong. You can see the movement from where it’s coming and it’s up to you to be able to avoid it, however, since you can only move your body as fast as you would normally be able to, keep your balance.”

Harry couldn’t process this but understood at the very least that he had to stay on his guard.

Skipping the icy cold water with the help of Hermione’s “Feather Touch”, they managed to get across without hurting themselves or slipping too much.

Hermione drank a mana potion to replenish her magic, and once they reached the base of the tree, she was in awe for a moment at how truly massive it was. It towered above them.

Ron felt ill but raised his shield, “I’m ready when you are.”

“Of course,” Hermione grinned. “Tom, cast the haste spell.”

Harry pouted, “I’ll cast a recovery spell on all of you just in case.” And Tom turned to him, “You stick close to me. Keep your eye on Ron and make sure he doesn’t faint.”

“Alright.”

When Ron advanced, there was a split second moment when the tree trunk began moving, massive branches swinging down as if to swat a fly and it left a mark on the spot where Ron would have been if he didn’t jump to the right.

Harry scrambled, after Tom, following him who seemed as if he had the ease of being able to maneuver around, avoiding the flailing branches. But after just doing that for a couple minutes, it became very obvious that Harry’s stamina was really bad.

“Stamina potions!” Harry gulped one but it in after shouting the reminder but it seemed like he was the only one that had to do it. The rest of his teammates were still moving around as if they hardly broke sweat.

Hermione on the other hand began casting a spell, “Eizswitchuen Farnedivia Metas! Freeeia.”

And the branch that was headed towards Ron’s head froze. It started at the tip and began spreading very quickly, crystalizing, and the sound was so crisp and it crackled, as if the tree wanted to fight it but eventually it gave in.

“Now!” She pointed at the passage in between the roots.

Harry cast a cushion charm just in case everyone would get hurt but Tom just pulled him close him with a hug and dove down the hole.

They fell a little bit and some insect skittered about, a pile of dead leaves broke their fall and dust began to stir.

“Uh. Okay we got in, now what?”

“Remember the plan, idiot.”

Harry coughed and Tom dusted off his face. “Are you alright?”

Harry looked down and shyly said, “I’m not hurt.”

Even though his knee was bruised. He hastily cast a healing spell over everyone.

“Lumos.”

Hermione held a ball of light on her hand, and instantly everyone’s faces got illuminated.

There was a moment of silence until Ron put down his shield and it dug on the soil.

“So what does Gillyweed look like?”

“It’s a green herb found underneath a body of water that’s not exposed to a lot of light. It usually grows at the very bottom, so someone will have to dive in. From what I know there’s a small pool just a few paces from here that’s saturated with mana. So there might be creatures but they’re mostly harmless at least according to the book I’ve read,” Hermione recited from memory.

Harry bit his lip, “I can swim,” volunteering with a wave of a hand.

Hermione blinked, “We can’t let you go because you’re our healer, if we lose you, we might die so I’ll go. Since you three can survive without me... Just keep me safe.”

She said it with so much confidence that Harry just tilted his head downwards in a form of recognition and resignation.

Hermione removed the cloak and stripped down to her under armor so that it wouldn’t weigh her down.

“Tom, cast a haste on me, so I can move faster.”

Harry didn’t feel quite good at the prospect, “Drink this too, just in case something stings you below.”

Hermione took the offered purple vial. “Thank you, Harry. You’re always so kind to me.”

“Not at all. I just want you safe.”

And before she went in the water, Harry suddenly ran, and touched the water. It suddenly began glowing into a weird bluish green hue.

“It’s filled with lumospores… Can we take some home, Tom?”

“You can’t. If you can’t take care of them then it’d be a waste, Harry. They’ll just die. It’s best to leave them where they are unless you’re planning to sell them to someone who knows how to handle them.”

“Even when it’s pretty?”

Tom nodded sagely.

Harry frowned at the rejection, twice in a row. “I… I.”

“No. Harry.”

“Okay,” Harry decided that he should stay near the bank of the water and waited for the rest of them to come closer.

Ron yawned. “For a B rank quest, this is awfully easy.”

Hermione glowered, “Well, it’s because we planned for it. And it’s a good thing it’s a quest without competition. If it’s a quest with competition, we’ll be fighting against other people for the same thing.”

“Which is a waste of effort, truly. Those types of things are best for the ultimate rarity items. Like Mythical rarity hunts…” Tom looked at Harry at this. Pointedly.

And Harry just blinked.

“What’s up Tom?”

“ _Nothing_.”

* * *

Harry poked at the water, his face lit up when it glowed and he smiled watching it glow from time to time. Hermione just went a little deeper into the pool.

“Hmn… that’s a deep pool for something this small.”

“Well, space doesn’t exist the same way with magic.”

Harry swirled his fingers around, “Like how?”

“Where we are, could expand to something bigger or smaller, depending on who wills it.”

“The Elders?”

“To an extent,” Tom grimaced.

And then Harry saw a blue mushroom at the side, and without meaning to, he touched it.

“Ah, Tom, what’s this?”

“You idiot! You can’t go touching things like that without first studying their property.”

To Harry all of a sudden, he could see blue tinge his vision, and the mushroom grew bigger, and more and more of it appeared as if they were multiplying, until the entire room was filled with blue mushrooms and he couldn’t see anyone else.

He collapsed to the floor, and the tips of his fingers turned blue.

“Harry!”

Harry blurrily looked at his finger, despite the mushrooms spinning around him, “Poison? No… it’s a… maluberr... It’s… a hahahahaha,” and Harry started coughing.

Ron hurried over, and Hermione appeared behind them, looking triumphant with the gillyweed. “Harry! What happened to him?”

“It’s one of those mushrooms that cause you to hallucinate a little, and make you drowsy. I just don’t know what type.”

Tom did an elementary scan and took out his notes on dangerous poisonous plants but none of that appeared. He subconsciously knew it wasn’t harmful but at the same time, he felt frozen, unable to decide.

“We’ll have to wait it out because none of us can carry him at this state.” He said, and knelt down.

Harry smiled and waved his hands around, looking at the flickering red eyes, “Mushrooms… I love you…”

Tom felt a vein pop and took a bandage and wrapped it all around Harry’s mouth, “You know you talk too much, and if you give in to impulse, you might bite your own tongue.”

Hermione shook her head, and sighed. “I don’t have food but if we don’t eat, we’ll get really hungry.”

“Ron?”

Ron took out his small knapsack, “I have bread. And Chocolate.”

“I always knew I could rely on you, Ron.”

Hermione said, looking at the buns that Ron managed to squeeze in. At this, Ron blushed. “Have some, I don’t mind.”

Hermione laid out her cloak in the middle and expanded it to fit all four of them, “Hmn. We’re almost done with the quest, but we’ll need Harry to recover soon. Do we have anything that can counteract that?”

“Nothing short of bleeding him out, or force feeding him the cura will work…”

“Not even your warlock spells?” Hermione asked, taking out her grimoire.

Tom glared at her, “Warlock spells have to be learned and practiced. Just because I have potential doesn’t mean I can use all the spells right away, you should know that, Book Worm.”

Hermione huffed, “Well, I read a lot, and this is my first time seeing that blue mushroom too. I’m sure that I would have encountered the shape. Are you sure it’s a mushroom and not anything else?”

Harry at this point uncontrollably reached for his heart and started snickering.

“Let’s kill it.” Ron pipped in.

“What, no, just cut it off and let’s place it in one of the collection vials.” Hermione said.

Tom had a pinched look at his face where he was considering what else he could do at the situation. If you encounter something you don’t know which feels as if it was typically harmless but reduced Harry to such a state, normally, you would call for help and the best help he could call out was Marvolo. Who was in charge of the World.

Something was wrong, as if he was being forced to believe that it was a mere hallucination shroom when normally he would not hesitate. Normally, he would resolve it right away.

And yet he knew this was a lesson for him, a test of skill of how much he was going to play by the rules to stay with Harry or if he’d give in and have the boy just rest in the manor without exploring much of the world that was created with him in mind.

He tried not to curse. On the other hand, their idiot of a counterpart was busy trying to change things in the real world, taking enough precaution to ensure Harry was safe this time around.

But even inside his mind, he wasn’t.

_What in Salazar’s name are you thinking?_

“I’ll feed him cura...” And he had to grit his teeth out and focus on the task before he could even do it.

And without further ado, Tom untied the bandages, took the golden stoppered vial inside Harry’s cloak, and poured it inside his mouth.

“What are you doing?” Hermione asked, and gasped when she watched Tom put his mouth on Harry’s drooling one.

“Ahhhh…” Hermione blinked and turned away, “Hey Ron, stop watching idiot!”

“But it’s not… they’re brothers?”

Tom growled, “It’s so we don’t get delayed, and I’d rather not risk Harry being in pain for much longer.”

Harry started coughing, and stood up, eyes quite glassy and he was trying to wipe tears out. “There… there was a message. The Mauberry said we shouldn’t be here.”

“Mauberry?”

“That’s their name. They look like mushrooms but they’re not mushrooms.”

“So it’s a berry.”

“Does it matter?”

“It’s a Mauberry!”

“Gods Harry, stop it.” Tom admonished him and Harry looked hurt.

Tom sighed and muttered, “Obviously we shouldn’t be here. We have to get out.”

And Tom wondered just how much of Harry’s magic was interfering with the world they were currently in.

* * *

Getting out of the tree was harder since it involved having to climb up from where they came from, and since they have not mastered any flight skills, they had to rely on freezing, and haste again.

With Harry exhausted from the ordeal, it was tantamount they got back safely.

But at the back of Tom’s mind, he was wondering already how long they could last and what was the real purpose of them being isolated when he knew that something bad was going on outside.

* * *

Voldemort sat with his council and observed the developments with calm ease. “The fools don’t know where I’ve placed him.”

“My Lord, we’ve secured the castle, what’s next?”

“We’ll have others join our numbers. While we wait, Dumbledore and his men would demand for their savior, and the truth is, that child is no savior. If they put it on his hands without doing anything to save themselves then they’re in to ruin everything. I’ve seen it, and it will not happen again.”

“At what cost, My Lord?” Bellatrix smiled quite darkly.

“Everything.”

* * *

Meanwhile, a seven-year-old Hermione Granger was sitting with her parents, and she would toss and turn in her sleep as if stuck in an ever present nightmare. She dreams of a green eyed boy who was screaming for help, and only wanted a friend.

And she was one of his friends.

He insisted and she wondered if it was possible to befriend someone that she just dreams of.

Or was it just plain imagination?

“Who are you?”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know your thoughts~
> 
> The art in the middle of the story was inspired by [Sickness of the Heart](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18728953#main) but I think it suits this story more.


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